WINNIPEG – For much of the season, as the Wild was racking up victories, the team's lineup was a model of consistency.
But difficult times sometimes call for more extreme measures. And that brings us to Sunday's game against the Jets at MTS Centre, when coach Bruce Boudreau made some bold moves. Including:
• Putting Devan Dubnyk in goal on the back end of back-to-back games.
• Once again shuffling his lines. He made Jason Pominville a healthy scratch for the first time as a Wild player. And he changed up his lines again, putting Eric Staal between Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle, Martin Hanzel between Nino Niederreiter and Ryan White, and Eric Haula between Tyler Graovac and Chris Stewart.
He also returned defenseman Gustav Olofsson to the lineup. That meant Jordan Schroeder, Pominville and Nate Prosser were scratched.
It speaks to the urgency Boudreau — whose postgame meeting with the media following the 5-4 loss lasted only 28 seconds — feels.
Pominville has struggled of late, a difficult stretch since the team's bye. And this was after he caught, and recovered from, the mumps. From Jan. 7 through the All-Star break, he had 24 points in 22 games. But he had no points in his past four games.
Improvement needed
If there is one thing Dubnyk and the rest of the team agrees on, it's the need for better play in the defensive end.